1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to a cable connector comprising a housing, which forms a shielding and/or which is provided with a shielding, and at least one connector module placed within the housing, which module comprises a body of an electrically insulating material, a circuit substrate comprising a grounding layer and one or more terminals mounted on the circuit substrate.
2. Description of Prior Developments
Such cable connectors are known, for example from EP 0 736 931, and are used, for instance, to provide a cable-to-panel electrical connection between a cable and a printed circuit board (PCB) of, for instance, a telephone exchange device or the like. Cable connectors of this kind allow operation at high speed.
In modern applications, a permanent need exists for increased speed (e.g., gigabits and beyond) and enhanced signal integrity and it is therefore desirable to further improve, amongst other things, the grounding of cable connectors.
To this end, the connector of the present invention is characterized in that the shielding of the housing is electrically connected to the grounding layer of the circuit substrate and in that the housing contains a resilient clip of an electrically conducting material, which clip establishes electrical contact between the grounding layer of the circuit substrate and the shielding of the housing or, upon connection of the cable connector to a counterpart, a grounding layer comprised in that counterpart.
Thus, it appeared that the overall grounding of the cable connector can be improved considerably and the detrimental effects of, for instance, phase differences in differential pairs (which are frequently used in this kind of cable connector) are suppressed more effectively.
In a very robust and cost effective embodiment of the present invention, the housing comprises an inwardly protruding projection that contacts the grounding layer of the circuit substrate and that establishes electrical contact between the shielding of the housing and the grounding layer. Accordingly, it is preferred that the body of the connector module comprises a slit or opening for accommodating the protruding projection.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, the housing contains a resilient clip of an electrically conducting material, which clip establishes electrical contact between the grounding layer of the circuit substrate on the one hand and the shielding of the housing or, upon connection of the cable connector to a counterpart, a grounding (layer) comprised in that counterpart on the other hand. Thus, the grounding of a connector and/or a connection established using the connector of the present invention is substantially improved.
The invention also pertains to a kit for assembling the above-described cable connector, wherein the housing comprises an inwardly protruding projection and/or the kit contains a resilient clip and wherein the projection and/or the clip, upon assembly of the connector, serve to establish electrical contact between the shielding and the grounding layer.